Improvement in straw-cutters



UNITED STATES ATE FFICE.

WILLIAM KAEHNI, O F CLEVELAND, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT lN STRAW-CUTTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. [80,597, dated August 1, 187 6; application filed August 18, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM KAEHNI, of Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain Improvements in Straw-Gutters, of which the folloW-' ing is a specification:

This invention relates to certain improvements in straw or feed cutters; and consists, first, .in the peculiar construction and operation of the knife; second, in the mechanism for operating the knife; and, third, in the mechanism for feeding the straw to the knife, combined and arranged as hereinafter described and claimed.

To enable others to fully understand my invention, I proceed to describe the same in detail with the aid of the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure l is an end view. Fig. 2 is-the right side, and Fig. 3 is the left side, of the machine.

A is the frame, surmounted by a box or trough, from which the straw is fed to the knife. To the front end of the machine is placed a plate, B, reaching across from side to side, and having a horizontalslot or aperture, O, in line with the bottom of the said box or trough, and through which the straw is fed. The central portion of said plate B has an arm, D, reaching downward, and secured atthe lower end to a crossbar, E. Said arm D has a vertical slot, D for a purpose hereinafter shown. At the sides of said plate B are placed slides b b, which are connected by a bar, 0, lying on a line with the lower side of the aforesaid slot O, and a sufficient distance from it to allow the knife to slide between them. F is the cutting-knife, and consists of a blade having teeth, ff, in the form of a saw, said'teeth being sharpened like reaping-machine teeth. Said knife is attached to a frame, as, which slides vertically in the slides 12 b, the teeth cutting the straw across the lower edge of the slot 0. The lower side of the knife-frame is connected, by

' a connecting-rod,-g, to the end of a lever, H,

the end of which plays up and down in the slot D by which movement is imparted to said knife. The rear end of the lever H is pivoted to a bar across the rear end of the machine. I is the crank-shaft, having its bearings in boxesi 2', attached to the front posts. On said crank-shaft is placed a cam, J, which operates the lever B for pushing it down. A spring,j, fixed between it and the bottom of the box, serves to draw the lever up. Feed-rollers are placed in the front end of the feed-box, in the usual manner, and are operated by a cam, is, on the crank-shaft, the cam working in connection with a lever, l, pivoted to a hanger, m, the upper end of the lever operating dogs a n, which work in connection with ratchet-wheels o 0 on the end of the feed-roller journals.

Having described my invention, I claim The combination of the shaft 1, provided with the cams J'and lo, the lever H for operating the cutting-frame a: and horizontal knife F, the angular lever Z, spring-sustained ratchets and Wheels 0 0 on the journals of the feed-rollers, all substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

' WILLIAM KAEHN I. Witnesses:

GEO. W. TrBBIrTs, ANDREW S UIRE. 

